Recently Capture Integration became dealers for the Match Technical line of products – accessories for (primarily) Leica M9, M8, and other Leica rangefinder cameras.
www.matchtechnical.com
The products consist of a variety of shoe-attached thumb rests, cold shoe expansion units, and shutter release convex and concave buttons. We’ve already sold some of these accessories to our Leica clients. I have to say I like the vibe of the company and the products seem well crafted.
Beep & Bip
Thumbs Up CS EP Mod 1
However, I was curious about the release buttons for a different product: The Phase One DF Camera. Traditionally, the Mamiya 645 shutter release has a different feel than many cameras. Rather than a short path click, the Mamiya 645 camera has a longer throw press. Meaning the total distance travelled from top of the release to bottom of the release is further than some cameras. Add in an inconsistent release point and a lag in the response time, and it’s easy to see how users were frustrated.
As many know, the Phase One DF has numerous improvements over the previous Mamiya/Phase One generation 645 bodies. One of those improvements concerns the shutter lag. The Phase One DF shortens the release path, makes the release point more consistent within that path, and dramatically reduces the lag. In comparing various Mamiya models with the newest Phase One DF, I could feel a dramatic improvement.
But the Match Technical Bip caught my eye as a possible enhancement to the Phase One DF. I had a theory that screwing a Bip into the Phase One DF release socket would somehow reduce the above and below throw of the release path even further. In practice, it turns out my theory was correct. Besides myself, I’ve had two other photographers try it with and without and both overwhelmingly preferred the DF with the Bip.
Bip on DF
In addition to enhancing the feel of the release, it also, by raising the pressure of the release off the camera, reduces shake from the release push of your finger. The Bip costs $18. I can’t imagine any DF user not preferring it. Call us today and order one for your Phase One DF.